Antigua Government ensures LIAT 2020 to Launch in August Amid Severance Pay Dispute

The Antigua and Barbuda administration is hopeful that the new regional carrier LIAT 2020 will take off in the first week of August. The venture is between the Antigua and Barbuda government and a Nigerian-based airline called Air Peace.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne, when he announced that the new LIAT would cost nearly US $65 million to set up, also stated that the Antigua and Barbuda government was investing US $20 million in the venture.

Last month, Prime Minister Browne sent a letter to the chairman of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the former shareholders of LIAT 1974 Ltd, suggesting that some of the US$12.1 million, used to purchase three aircraft now owned by the CDB, be reserved to pay off a portion of the outstanding balances on LIAT 1974 Ltd’s re-fleeting loan to allow for the payment of severance to former LIAT 1974 workers.

The government of Antigua and Barbuda has called upon the CDB and other shareholder governance in the now-defunct airline to release their interests in an escrow fund that can be used to settle the severance payments due to the former employees of LIAT 1974.

The shareholders for the defunct airline were the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The proposal is now before the CDB for a response. On its part, however, the CDB had previously indicated that it wasn’t supporting the financing nor any of LIAT 2020’s operating decisions. It was involved solely for seeking the necessary approval for the sale of the aircraft involved in the transaction under consideration for the deal.

The Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU), on the other hand, is calling for negotiated settlements to ensure that those former employees, including pilots, get their due severance and any other benefits promised to them. The union strongly holds that it is important that the financial entitlements of the former employees be addressed to bring a just closure.

Establishing LIAT 2020 is a key piece in the puzzle of restoring regional air connectivity. Negotiating funding for severance pay from the government remains critical to smooth transitions for former employees of LIAT 1974.